Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chí Thành. —VNA/VNS Photo

BANGKOK — Vice President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân will lead a delegation to attend the Global Summit of Women 2022 (GSW 2022) in Bangkok, Thailand.

The event, themed: “Women: Creating Opportunities in the New Reality”, will be an opportunity for Việt Nam to put forward more ideas and initiatives for the stronger empowerment of women during the pre-pandemic recovery process and for the realisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chí Thành.

The world had taken great strides in promoting gender equality, Thành told Vietnam News Agency correspondents, and these efforts had been challenged by multiple factors, particularly the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Việt Nam had also been dealing with various challenges, including sex imbalance at birth, gender gap in earnings and living standards, and how to ensure welfare for ethnic minority women, he said.

Việt Nam had been an active participant of the GSW, with the high-level engagement, he noted, which reflects its determination to further advance gender equality globally through strengthening women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially with respect to supporting vulnerable groups of women – women from ethnic minority communities, those with disabilities, refugees and migrant women.

Last year, Vice President Xuân also led a Vietnamese delegation to attend the GSW 2021 in Lisbon, where Việt Nam was honoured with the Country Leadership Award in recognition for its efforts and achievements in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment over the past two decades, the ambassador recalled.

In 2008, Việt Nam hosted the GSW in Hà Nội under the theme “Women and Asia: Driving the Global Economy", he said, emphasising that Việt Nam attaches importance to ensuring gender equality and the advancement of women.

The country is among the fastest in closing the gender gap in the last 20 years and is anticipated to be one of the earliest to accomplish the SGD for gender equality.

The Vietnamese diplomat said that the COVID-19 pandemic had been a wakeup call for countries and the international community to take strong actions together not only to keep the virus under control and maintain social stability, but also recover and develop in a sustainable, inclusive and innovative way. He described women as not only players but also leaders who lead global development trends.

At the GSW 2021, Vice President Xuân called on the international community to further promote the role and the full and equal participation of women in preventing conflicts and addressing non-traditional security challenges, Thành said. In the post-pandemic recovery period, women must be provided with an enabling environment to access resources and knowledge, apply science and technology, and be equipped with necessary skills to start a business and develop the digital economy.

The GSW was launched in 1990. It regularly welcomes around 1,000 female politicians and business leaders from more than 70 countries and territories. This year, the event will take place in Bangkok from June 23 – 25.

Vice President Xuân will also use the occasion to hold bilateral meetings with Thailand’s leaders and meet the Vietnamese community there. — VNS